Hidden Faces
by Hakkari
Summary: "Oh, between the two of us, we'd make a lovely face to show the rest of the crew. You have the eyes, I have the rest... I'm sure we were meant to meet, like two halves finally made whole!" Tali was determined to stay isolated from her Cerberus crew mates. Who knew that companionship would come in the form of a certain master thief? Focused on Kasumi/Tali friendship. MShep/Tali


To say that the treason charges were 'upsetting' (as Kelly had apparently put it) would be an understatement. Following the call Tali had slunk off to the engine room and sobbed uncontrollably. Her people had put her under enough stress and scrutiny – losing both her squads at Freedom's Progress and Haestrom had lost her points, while bringing back both Veetor and the data had gained some – and now, to put her through this?

For once she was thankful that her helmet hid her face, which was probably bloated and red from crying. Donnelly and Gabby gave her quick, questioning glances before returning to work. She could hear her name in a bit of their conversation, and eventually Gabby left the room to 'go get lunch'. She insisted still that it was merely a coincidence that Shepard had followed her down and even more of one that he knew that the quarian was upset.

It was nice, though, to talk to Shepard. He didn't show her pity or tell her that he was sorry. Instead he asked for the Fleet's coordinates and then set off right away. They were only a few hours out, now, and she could feel her nerves building with every passing second. The two engineers had retired for the night, telling her to get some sleep before she passed out on her console. So far she had ignored the advice.

"Hello."

She jumped, turning quickly and pressing her back against her station. In front of her was an unfamiliar hooded woman. Tali flitted through her memory, trying to put a name to the face. The woman only chuckled. "I'm Kasumi Goto, Tali. We haven't spoken yet, though I had intended to stop by… Mind if I ask what you're working on?"

_Oh, the thief Shepard mentioned…_ "Um, I'm working on strengthening the Normandy's barriers. The ones before were too weak to stand against the collector ship, so I'm hoping that by rerouting some power from some of the less important system I – sorry, got a bit technical there… I tend to never shut up when I'm nervous, it's a defense mechanism you –" She could feel her face reddening, and once again she was glad that she had a helmet to hide her expression.

Kasumi grinned. "Aw, it's cute when you do that. And I know quite a bit about technology myself, actually. Admittedly not much about ships, but that's why you're here, I suppose."

Deciding that the human, though odd, was probably not out to do her any harm, Tali returned to her work. After a few awkward minutes of Kasumi silently watching her, she turned around again. "I'm sorry, did you want something? I don't mean to be rude but I kind of have something important coming up and I really don't need distractions."

She gave that infuriating grin again. "Shep is bringing me with you two when we reach the Fleet. Said two tech experts were better than one, you know. Plus, well, I am rather good at distractions if things go _awry_."

Tali had no idea what _awry_ meant, but it didn't sound good. At all. Quarian trials were usually short and organized; the admirals would state why they believed the accused should be exiled, the accused would state their defense, witnesses would be called if needed, the admirals voted, and then judgment was passed. "Why does Shepard think that things might go… _are-eye?_" In her defense, she had neglected to learn English in preparation for her Pilgrimage. She had never thought that she would have to deal with many humans, let alone be presented with words that had no direct translation in her language.

Typical how the fates placed her on a human vessel owned by a pro-human, anti-everyone-else organization.

"He's afraid that they'll try and confine you to the Fleet in things go poorly. Or completely exile you so that you can never return. In that case, I'm supposed to cause some sort of distraction – Shep suggested cutting the power, but I think we could go with something a little more exciting, no?"

She placed a hand on her helmet, sighing. "_Keelah_, cutting the power is a terrible enough idea. Why add more to that?"

Kasumi sniffed, crossing her arms. "It's a waste of my unique talents to simply _cut the power_. I could just as easily cut the power, find a few, ah, _misplaced_ items, and then replace them somewhere else to cause more confusion. Then, while everyone's running around like chickens with their heads cut off, we escape!" She smiled, pleased with herself. "What do you think?"

"I… that's a horrible idea. Please… can't we just go in and out, hopefully without incident? And really, Shepard told you to cut the power. _Shepard?_ We're… we're talking about the same one, right?"

She shrugged. "I was just as surprised as you are, Tali. Shep never did seem like the type to cause a ton of chaos. Maybe he's finally lightening up. Or maybe…" She smirked, giving Tali a meaningful look.

"Or maybe…?"

"What is Shep to you, anyway? I mean, quarians absolutely despise Cerberus, right? You're no exception; I heard how you wanted to blow them away. And I doubt anything Mr. Illusive could give you would ease that hatred. Yet here you are, on a Cerberus ship, serving under a Cerberus commander. Sooo, are you and Shep…?"

"Oh! Oh, Keelah, _no._ I mean, we have history, you know? I couldn't just let the fact that he was working with Cerberus cloud my judgment. If he thought it was the best way to do things and save people then perhaps it is the best way. Not that he isn't a great guy, I mean, cause he _is_ and any girl would be lucky to have him but-"

The thief laughed. "You're rambling again. It's really quite adorable, really."

Tali decided that her face couldn't get any redder without exploding. "I… sorry. Look, it's just… could we not talk about this now? We're going to be docking soon and I need to get ready…"

Kasumi held up her hands defensively, backing up. "Sorry, I tend to be a bit nosy. But I won't pry. At least, not yet. Maybe later, though, once your name is cleared and this is all done. Cause Shep'll save you; he always saves people who need his help."

The quarian turned, surprised. "You sound as if you have personal experience. What hap –" The woman was gone, cloaked back in the shadows. Tali sighed, rubbing at her mask in frustration. Kasumi hadn't been the first to bring up a relationship with the commander. Garrus had also made an offhand comment about Shepard being a lot happier now that his 'favorite engineer' was back.

It wasn't like she didn't look at him like that, because she did. Every woman looked at Shepard like that. Why would he settle for a quarian he had never actually seen before when he could go for Miranda or Jack, who showed _everything_. It wasn't fair, really. If she had been born a human who looked more like Ash or Miranda, she wouldn't have even had a problem catching his eye.

"Tali, Shepard is requesting your presence up on the bridge. The crew of the Rayya is requesting confirmation and a password before we can land."

"Thanks, EDI." She pushed herself off of her console, heading towards the elevator.

She would have to place her feelings for Shepard behind for now. Maybe after this trial was over, maybe after the Collectors were defeated… maybe then she would confess.

For now, however, she had a name to clear.

**A/N: It's been a while since I've written much of anything, and I can tell that this is rusty as it can get _ **

**I always imaged Kasumi and Tali would be great friends, maybe bonding over their shared taste in fashion and having girly time, since I can't imagine that Jack, Miranda, or Samara would take the time to gossip or just talk about simple things. Tali's always struck me as the type to be really optimistic and awkward around others while keeping things bottled up so they don't spill over into other people's issues. As for Kasumi, well, she seems nosy as can be so any sort of relationship news would probably be music to her ears.**

**I apologize for any out of character-ness. Hopefully that will get better (along with my writing style) with time.**

**Reviews are always loved :D**


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